


Boarding School Burnout

by xiamer



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Azula (Avatar) Redemption, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Partially Deaf Zuko (Avatar), Slow Burn, also me:, and they were ROOMMATES, because it’s zuko, but it’s basically just the normal world, changed my mind about actually tagging the jetko since its over, except it’s boarding school, i like have not read through this again lol, ill prolly have to add onto these later, its still set with the canon land tho, it’s modern au w no bending, like ozai is president of the fire nation, me: i hate slow burns so much, oh my god they were roommates, one too many references to a separate peace, the jetko is an on again off again typa beat that’s already over by the time this starts, there is gonna eventually be some explicit talk about child abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:07:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28005147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xiamer/pseuds/xiamer
Summary: Zuko had been attending the same boarding school, with the same people, since he was five years old. By now, it was the only consistent thing in life. His cousin had died, his mother left, his uncle ran away, his sister was psychotic, his father was evil plain and simple; Zuko had been beaten, manipulated, burnt, kicked out; he had watched his father fight his way to power and had all the while had attended Ba Sing Se Academy. It felt like hell on earth, but at least it reliably stayed the same.Until senior year, the year that everything blew up in his face, but maybe not everything will leave such a traumatic scar
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Eventually - Relationship, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 77





	1. And they were roommates ! oh my god they were roommates

**Author's Note:**

> hi !! im attempting a multi chapter fic for the first time in 6 months lol, and i really hope i finish it, bc ive got big plans for this one, unlike… (stares sadly at ‘life’s great happiness is to be convinced we are loved’)
> 
> but yeah im actually kinda excited for this, i have NO idea how long it’ll be but yeah
> 
> so okay, i know im kinda pushing the realms of reality here a little, but just bear me with me; this is set in modern day times, so think like 2018-2019 for the vibe, but the only difference is that it’s set with nations- and creatures, so yes to turtleducks- of atla, like the fire nation exists, and so do the water tribes, and the earth kingdom, and i brought back the air monks bc there’s no war going on so it makes sense for them to have people actually living there and stuff. BUT there is no bending, so if anyone asks how toph sees and knows stuff, she’s literally just super human okay
> 
> so a TW for the chapter-
> 
> child abuse, because Zuko thinks back to staying with his dad over the summer which was NOT GREAT. and so y’all obviously know the scene where Zuko redirects ozais lightening; well i wanted to keep a version Of that in here, because i feel like no one ever includes it, and it’s my favourite svene- what i did was make it a taser instead, but fair warning, i seriously bend the laws of what im sure tasers do, because i have never been hit by one, and id like to keep it that way, so just pretend what i did makes sense 
> 
> so yeah, happy reading !

Zuko had been attending the same boarding school, with the same people, since he was five years old. By now, it was the only consistent thing in life. His cousin had died, his mother left, his uncle ran away, his sister was psychotic, his father was evil plain and simple; Zuko had been beaten, manipulated, burnt, kicked out; he had watched his father fight his way to power and had all the while had attended Ba Sing Se Academy. It felt like hell on earth, but at least it reliably stayed the same. 

However, going into his final year, _that_ was the year that everything had finally changed. Zuko had attempted, over the summer, to go back to living with his father after three years of estrangement, only to piss off his father more than he thought possible, and he ended up leaving again, though this time was completely willingly. He didn’t plan it very well, and ended up all by himself for three weeks before he returned to school; he never tried to reach out to Uncle. Surely Uncle wouldn’t want anything to do with him after he blatantly disregarded his advice and went back to his father. He would’ve gone to Mai, but he had burnt that bridge as well, which meant Ty Lee was out too. 

So Zuko had just sort of… drifted. He had slowly transferred money out of his heavily monitored bank account into a separate one he had set up so that his father never noticed; so money wasn’t an issue. The real issue was that Zuko had no one. He spent his three weeks of solitude essentially hitchhiking his way across the entire world. Caldera was a lot farther from Ba Sing Se than he had originally thought. 

“Say,” one of the taxi cab drivers had said in one of the small Earth Kingdom cities, “aren’t you the son of that President Ozai?”

“Nope,” Zuko had quickly assured, and pointed to his eye, “his scar’s on the other side.”

“Yeah whatever kid.”

By the time Zuko arrived back in Ba Sing Se, he had just a day before the new school year started. The bag that he had grabbed when he fled Caldera had practically nothing in it, and Zuko didn’t particularly enjoy the thought of explaining to the faculty why he had none of his required materials for classes, or life in general, before he realised that he had sent his stuff to be delivered to his dorm room the day before he had left. He quietly thanked past Zuko for doing something right for once, and left to book a hotel room for the night. 

It wasn’t the nicest place by any means, and Zuko could definitely afford better, but he’d rather be there than have the chance of being recognised and questioned at some high end establishment. The last thing Zuko wanted was some nosy snob asking why he wasn’t at home when he should be. 

_Oh nothing much, my dad tried to kill me again but it’s okay because he’s the president_. 

Yeah that probably wouldn’t do all that well. For one, it would catapult him into the news spotlight, which he had desperately worked his way out of after his burn, and the last thing he wanted was to be national news again. They probably wouldn’t even _believe_ him; Ozai had a talent for covering up his dirt, and though Zuko had some damn good evidence, it would definitely be tossed out immediately. 

Zuko threw his bag on a chair in the corner of the room and let himself fall onto the bed, barely remembering to plug in his phone and set an alarm. He looked like he was dragged up from the pits of hell, but couldn’t bring himself to care enough to take a shower or- Agni forbid- even change his clothes. Those were for morning Zuko to figure out. He rolled over and turned the lamp off, immediately passing out, though it was only a little past eight. 

  
  
  
  


The next morning Zuko woke up before his alarm, right as the sun was rising. He groaned and just shut the alarm off; he was awake, and certainly wasn’t going back to sleep anytime soon. 

He jumped in the shower, something he hadn’t done for at least a week and relished in finally feeling clean. As the water pounded around him, little flashes of the past few months bounced around his mind. 

_“Zuko, please do explain why you finished off the school year with a 91 in calculus.”_

_“W-well it was the second highest grade in the class!”_

_“And who was first?”_

_“...Sokka.”_

_Ozai rounded on him, grabbing him by the collar and forcibly shoving him to the ground. “You mean to tell me that_ my _son got second place to a water tribe peasant?”_

Zuko shivered at the memory; that had been the day after he got home, and it only got worse from then on. 

_“You know Zuzu, I think he’s going to kill you.”_

_“You tell me this like every year Azula.”_

_His sister only gave him a cheshire grin. “And am I ever wrong?”_

_“You always lie.”_

_“Not when it comes to Father.”_

Zuko turned off the shower and got out to dry off. He looked in the mirror, and he had gotten to the point where he hardly even noticed his scar anymore. It was just a part of his face by now. It still stood out, angry and red, against his otherwise pale and smooth skin. He reached up to touch it, running his fingers over the rough patch on his face. He sighed and dropped his hand from his face, holding it out and turning the palm up instead. The skin on the palm of his right was irritated and pulsed in a dark shade of maroon. 

_Zuko had already been planning on leaving, but before he went, he wanted to have one final conversation with his father. Maybe, just maybe, he could talk himself out of believing his father ever cared for him._

He left the bathroom and began to get dressed in clothes he hoped weren’t too dirty. Zuko may have been 110% officially disowned, but he still went to a fancy as hell school and would rather not cause a fuss about his appearance the first day of senior year. 

_“For your Mother’s crimes, she was banished.”_

_“Can you even_ do _that anymore? I mean, it’s not the 2nd century, we’re a modern nation.”_

_“Silence! I will not have you disrespecting me! I should have killed you years ago.”_

_Zuko heard the metallic whirr before he actually saw the taser and reached out to grab his father’s wrist._

_“A taser? Are you fucking insane?”_

_Ozai only smiled maniacally before jabbing it at Zuko again, who yelped and let his grip on the man's wrist go._

_Before promptly reaching out and grabbing for the weapon by the electric end._

Zuko shouldered his bag and set off towards Ba Sing Se Academy. He had gotten an email a few days prior, explaining that his roommate had been reassigned. He wasn't complaining- Jet wasn’t exactly the best company, especially with their on again off again relationship- but it still would’ve been nice to finish off his school career with the same roommate. The school hadn’t told him who it was, so he only hoped that they didn’t ask too many questions. 

_Zuko had fully expected to die in that moment. Grabbing a highly electric taser from his psychotic father was not how he wanted to go out, but so be it._

_However, he didn’t die- he didn’t even get fully incapacitated. There must’ve been something wrong with the battery, or it simply must’ve not been as high voltage as he was expecting, because Zuko managed to yank it from his father’s grip and point it back at him. He didn’t want to shock Ozai back, but he needed to get out._

_He dropped it on his father’s arm, and pushed back as soon as the hold went lax. He shoved Ozai to the side, grabbed his bag and ran. He didn’t stop, not when security yelled after him, not when staff called for him, not when he saw an unnaturally still Azula, clutching her phone. Zuko dashed all the way to the nearest bus station, and rode as far away as he could._

Zuko suffers through check in, is given his key, and told that the luggage he shipped weeks ago is already sitting in his room. He thanks everyone, and turns to head towards his dorm. On the way he catches sight of some of his classmates. He can probably name everyone, but he hardly interacts with them. He sees the “Gaang” gathered on one of the knolls, everyone happily soaking in the last bits of the summer sun. 

He’d always had a complicated relationship with them. Before his burn he was too awkward to talk to them, but afterwards he had been rude and short. He was in his own head too much, too angry at everyone to understand that he actually _liked_ these people, he was just too scared to interact. By the time his anger had finally simmered down, Zuko had destroyed any possible friendship he could’ve had. They came to a light truce at the end of the previous school year, mostly due to Uncle's influence. They liked to hang out at the Jasmine Dragon, where Zuko worked part time, so both parties had agreed to at least be neutral towards each other. Zuko had apologised to them each individually, which hadn’t gone great, but he was just trying to make sure that no more people than necessary hated him. 

Zuko was so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn’t even realised he’d run straight into someone. He looked up from the ground to see Mai there, scowling at him. He tried to smile, but judging by the expression on her face, it came out more as a grimace. 

“Hey…” he trailed off awkwardly; she held up a finger to silence him. 

“I’m only talking to you because Azula needed to give you something,” she roughly shoved a small box in his hands and turned on her heel, promptly marching away. 

Zuko sighed and opened the box, surprise washing over him as he picked his hearing aid out of the box. He slipped it over his ear, turned it on, and sighed in relief when it felt like his ear opened back up. He remembered taking it out before confronting his father, but had obviously not gotten it back. 

_“Zuzu take your stupid hearing aid out.”_

_“What, why?”_

_Azula huffed and rolled her eyes. “Just trust me on this, Zuko. Hand it over.”_

_She never called him by his real first name, so some naïve part of himself won the fight, and he grumbled, unhooking his aid and placing gently in her hands._

To say he was confused was an understatement. Why did Azula give it back to him? Why did she take it in the first place? Did she know what was going to happen with Ozai? Zuko sighed and rubbed his palm, the unshocked one, down his face. 

He continued his trek to the dorms, completely ignoring any student who looked at him in favour of glancing at the ground. His room was on the top floor, as it always had been, and to this day he couldn’t figure out if it was a good or a bad thing. 

Zuko took the steps two at a time- he was tall enough for it now- desperately hoping he wouldn’t be out of breath by the time he got to the top. The electricity must have done _something_ to his heart, because he felt just the slightest bit worse after taking the stairs. 

He stepped out of the stairwell and turned down the hallway to his room, unlocking the door and resisting the urge to fall face first onto the bed. He looked around and noticed his roommate must not have come up yet. Zuko huffed and turned to go unpack the suitcases sitting on his bed. He never brought much with him to school anyways, but this time the packing had been done in a rush job, so there were some things missing, but he had everything he needed overall. 

Once he had finished putting away his clothing, and storing his belongings in their specific places, Zuko pulled out his heavily annotated copy of _Love Amongst the Dragons_. He ran a finger over the writing on the inside cover, neatly done in pen. 

_For my Zuko, happy 9th birthday my son! I hope your love of theatre will grow as fast as you do. Love, Mom._

His eye began to water at the thought of his mother. He furiously swiped at the tears forming. That wasn’t what she would’ve wanted, she wouldn’t have wanted Zuko to cry on the move in day for his senior year. He hugged the script close to his chest and rocked a little with it. 

“Oh mom… I miss you. I finally left him, I hope you’d be proud.” 

The sound of scuffling and muffled voices outside his door broke him out of his reverie and he internally groaned. That must be his roommate, and _damn_ were they loud. He could only hope that they wouldn’t be like that all the time. 

“No- Aang! I _told_ you, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I could ask admin to switch you back to being with Haru!”

“No, I’m good. I’m sure my roommate won’t be that-“

The door swung open to reveal Sokka standing there, with Aang hovering by his side. Zuko stared at them like a catdeer in the headlights. 

“-bad,” finished Sokka. 

Zuko gave an awkward wave; a wave that was not returned. “Hello, Zuko here.”

Aang just grimaced and Sokka let out a groan. “Ugh, of all people, it had to be _you_ ? _Seriously_? Tui and La, I’d take Jet over this.”

“Um, actually Jet was my roommate before.”

Sokka glowered. “Yes. I know.”

Aang awkwardly stood in the doorframe as Sokka threw his luggage on his bed. He cleared his throat. “Well, uh, if you need me! I’ll be right down the hallway.” He gave Sokka a look™ and then rushed out the door. 

Zuko could only stand there as reality set in. His roommate for the next nine months was going to be Sokka. Sokka, who laughed obnoxiously at his own jokes; Sokka, who was apart of the most well known and well liked friend group at school; Sokka, who had consistently beaten every score of his in AP calc their Junior year; Sokka, who hated him and would probably be glad to push him out of the fifth floor window. 

Sokka noticed him staring. “What?” He snapped. 

Zuko muttered that it was nothing and gathered his abandoned script from where he had dropped it. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, looking for some sort of excuse to not have to interact with Sokka, and was instead met with something that filled him with anxious dread. 

**_Azula_ ** _: Is your door unlocked?_

**_Azula_ ** _: I’m coming up._

Should he mention this to Sokka? Sure, Sokka hated him, but he hated Azula more. Should he warn his roommate of his sister’s upcoming appearance, or would that just make it worse.

“Uh, just- just so you know, my sister’s coming up in a few minutes,” he cringed as he said it, watching as Sokka’s demeanour became even frostier. 

“Okay,” he responded flatly. Zuko began to panic. Was that a bad “okay”? Was he going to get murdered in his sleep? 

A knock at the door broke him out of his thoughts and he quickly scrambled up to get the door, trying his best to ignore Sokka’s glare. On the other side of the door stood Azula, and she looked worse than he remembered her being. She seemed paler, which was impressive considering how pale the both of them already were, and there were rings under her eyes. Zuko’s protective instinct kicked in, and he quickly scanned her over for any signs of injury. She noticed and rolled her eyes. 

“No need for that Zuzu, I’m not _you_.”

He groaned. “What do you want, Azula.”

She huffed, taking notice of Sokka inside the room. “I’ll make this brief. He hates you, and I doubt you’ll ever see him again, unless it’s on the other side of a courtroom. And _I_ certainly can’t blame him, I’d hate you too.”

Zuko groaned and rubbed at his eyes. “Is that all you came to say? To rub it in my face?”

“No of course not, though it does make me feel good. But I just came to tell you that I have videos,” she grinned maliciously, “so do watch what you’re doing Zuzu, we wouldn’t want anything to go wrong.”

He felt his stomach drop to his feet. She wouldn’t… would she? He didn’t even know what videos she had, but if they were of anything from his home life, it would ruin all of them. 

“Azula,” he hissed, trying to make sure Sokka didn’t hear, “if you release any videos you’ll take us all down. Everyone in the family.”

She scoffed. “You think I don’t know?”

“Then what do you _want_?”

“I just wanted to tell you,” she said cheerfully and turned to leave. Zuko stared at her, wide-eyed. 

“Bullshit. What do you want from me?”

She craned her neck back to look at him. “I want you to cover your hand, it’s gross. You’re lucky I killed the batteries, you’d look a lot worse in a casket,” and with that she walked away, leaving Zuko staring after her, standing in the doorframe. 

He shook his head and turned to walk back into the room, only to crash directly into Sokka. 

“Uh,” he said intelligently. Sokka was giving him a strange look, one that Zuko had no idea how to interpret. “Can I… help you?”

“What the hell were you two talking about?”

Zuko felt himself glare. “What’s it to you?”

Sokka sighed, running a hand through his hair and over his face. “Look dude, we clearly need to reach some sort of truce here, since we’re gonna be stuck as roommates.”

“I thought Aang said you two could request a switch with admin,” Zuko frowned, and Sokka raised an eyebrow. 

“You heard that?” Zuko nodded, “well whatever. Seeing as it’s _you_ I doubt they’d let me switch. You managed to drive away Jet, Zuko. _Jet_. If anything I’d think it would’ve been you asking to switch because of him.”

Zuko scowled. “Yeah okay I get it. What were you saying about a truce?”

“I’m saying that we should at least establish some ground rules for at least being civil to each other. We don’t need to be best friends but if we’re living together we can’t kill each other. When I get back to my dorm at the end of the day, I can and will pass out, so if you,” he jabbed a finger at Zuko, “disturb me, I will sic Toph on you, I mean it.”

He snorted in response. “Sure you will. I don’t know if you forgot, but I’ve known Toph longer than you. She takes orders from no man.”

That caused the closest thing to a genuine laugh Zuko thought he’d ever get out of Sokka. “Okay fine yeah I get it. Just don’t be a dick when we’re in the room together, okay?”

“I… know you don’t believe me, but,” Zuko heaved a sigh, “I’ve seriously changed, even in just the last month. I’m not like I was sophomore and junior year. I just want to apologise again for… that. I was angry at the world and it wasn’t justified to harass you guys like that. So, uh, yeah.”

Sokka looked at him incredulously before eventually letting his guard down and Zuko watched his shoulders slump. “Yeah okay. Sorry too, for provoking you I guess. Shake on it?”

Zuko raised an eyebrow but obligingly stuck out his hand. Sokka grinned in response and looked down at their clasped hands before his eyes widened. It would’ve been comical if Zuko hadn’t seen what he was so horrified by. 

“Holy fuck dude! What happened to your hand?”

He quickly yanked it back and stuttered out an excuse. “Oh, uh, I- I accidentally grabbed a loose wire?” he winced as it came out as a question, and by the look on Sokka’s face, the other boy didn’t buy it. His eyes traced over the slightly raised skin of Zuko’s hand. 

“Tui and La did you get fucking tazed or something?”

“Well I didn’t _get_ tazed, I grabbed it on my own,” he muttered under his breath. 

“What?”

“I said oh look it’s time for dinner.”

Sokka was still staring at him and Zuko just awkwardly laughed, grabbing his phone and shoving his right earbud in. 

“See you in the dining hall or not, I mean, like, wherever you’re gonna sit. I don’t actually have any friends so you’ll see me alone. Um,” he leaned against the door and stared at Sokka as though he had been caught committing a crime. Suddenly he felt the door behind him be yanked open and he fell into the hallway on his back. He looked up to see who had opened the door and cleared his throat. 

“Um, hi, Professor Zhao,” he croaked; Zhao only glared in response. 

“Zuko. I came by to see how you two were settling into being new roommates.”

As Zhao spoke, Zuko jumped to his feet and watched Sokka edge his way out of the room. 

“Oh don’t worry Professor,” Sokka said with a smile, “we’ll be just fine!”

Zhao narrowed his eyes at Zuko as Sokka spoke, and he saw the man’s eyes glance over his hand, which he quickly shoved into his pocket. 

“I’m glad to hear that Sokka. Let me know if you have any issues, Zuko can be quite… troublesome. And Zuko,” he rounded on Zuko, “get a glove or just anything to cover your hand. Your father would not be happy with you gallivanting around with your failure on full display,” he nodded to the both of them, “I shall see you boys at dinner.”

As Zhao stomped away, the boys who had gathered in the hallway parted for him. Zuko glared at the back of his head as he went. 

“ ‘Your father would not be happy with you gallivanting around with your failure in full display’,” he mocked, startling Sokka to a laugh. “Do you have a glove or something? I don’t feel like answering any more questions.”

“Uh yeah hold on.”

Sokka turned to disappear into their room for a second, leaving Zuko awkwardly hovering in the hallway as a group of freshmen pointed at him and whispered amongst themselves. He sent a glare their way that had one of the boys squeak and hide himself behind another. Before he could snap at them however, Sokka opened the door back up with a single glove in hand. 

“I have no idea how big your hands are in comparison to mine, but this is the best thing I’ve got for you pal,” he handed Zuko the glove, “in the name of the truce.” 

Zuko rolled his eyes and pulled it on. It was a fingerless glove, which was fine, he only needed it to cover his palm. Zuko eyed Sokka’s hands, which were wider than his, but the other boy’s fingers were shorter, which explained how strangely the glove was sitting on his hand, but whatever, if the shoe fits wear it. 

Or, well- if the _glove_ fits, wear it. 

“Thanks,” he replied gruffly. 

“Oh you’re so welcome your majesty. Now c’mon, I’m hungry.”

Zuko raised an eyebrow and gave him a weird look but Sokka only huffed and grabbed his arm, practically dragging Zuko through the hallway and down the stairs. He only let go when they were outside the building, leaving Zuko with whiplash and confusion. 

_What the fuck just happened- are we friends now?_

Sokka took off for the dining hall, forcing Zuko to jog in order to catch up with him. Their uniforms weren’t too restrictive, but still weren’t the best for chasing after people in. Zuko nudged Sokka’s shoulder as they walked. 

“You _know_ we can’t run in this shit, so slow down. I already am a mess, but I don’t need to _look_ like one.”

Sokka rolled his eyes. “Zuko you have one fingerless glove on and your hair is sticking nearly straight up. Trust me, I’m not causing any harm to your appearance, you’re doing that on your own.” He laughed as Zuko frantically tried to smooth down his hair. 

“Not funny,” he hissed. 

“A little funny,” responded Sokka. 

Before Zuko could respond, Sokka was pushing open the doors to the dining hall, and his attention shifted to quickly searching through the room for people he knew- ie, people he should _stay away_ from. 

He spotted Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee in one corner, which completely ruled out the surrounding twenty feet. He noticed Jet and his “Freedom Fighters” some number of tables down from his sister, disqualifying that area too. Lastly he noticed the Gaang, crowded right in the centre of the room. He quietly groaned and continued searching for an empty spit where he could _just be left alone._

Sokka left his side in favour of bounding over to his friends, and Zuko left to grab his dinner. Once he had it, he tried to isolate himself while still keeping an eye on those he didn’t want near him. He began to pick at his food, surprisingly not hungry, even after his three week road trip extravaganza. Just thinking of it made Zuko groan and thunk his head against the table. 

What kind of child gets tazed by their own father? What kind of father tazes their own child? Zuko grimaced at his hand and realised that maybe grabbing the electric end of a taser was a pretty bad idea. He hoped it wouldn’t scar- another reminder of his father’s abuse would be pretty uncool- but is ultimately glad that it doesn’t hurt; certainly not like his burn did. The left side of his face had ached for months, even after he had been discharged and had his bandages taken off. 

Zuko picked his head up and unlocked his phone, opening twitter. He checked the trending page, and was thankful to see his name was _not_ there, but did a quick search for his name. 

  
  


**Aaron (he/they!)**

_@hey_a_aron_

yooooo, has anyone seen **zuko nakayama** lately ? he wasn’t in the back of his dad’s press conference like he usually is

**Tobey Maguire Stan**

_@tobeymaguiretriviatime_

Replying to: _@hey_a_aron_ It’s been like 3 weeks since he’s been seen in public I think. Hope he’s ok

  
  


Well that wasn’t good. Zuko knew he needed to smooth that out before his dad brought him home just to bury the body. 

  
  


**Zuko**

_@nakayama_zuko_

Replying to: _@hey_a_aron @tobeymaguiretriviatime_

Don’t worry- I’m all good. Just decided to take a break from the public eye for a little bit before school. 

  
  


That sounded convincing, right? Whatever, Zuko sent the tweet and hoped that would be the end of it. He was honestly surprised that people noticed him not being in the background shots of his dad’s pictures, but then again _#HelpZuko_ had been trending on twitter when he had first shown up in public with his scar, so he supposed that the internet cared about him. 

Zuko sighed and decided to just dump the rest of his food. As he walked back from the trash can, he noticed someone frantically waving out of the corner of his eye. He lifted his head up to see that it was actually Toph. How she could tell it was him, he had no idea, but he did see that everyone at the table seemed to be glaring at her, so he just walked right past. Whatever strange truce he had created with Sokka, he didn’t want to break it just to sit with Toph. Despite the fact that their dorm was neutral terf, Zuko knew that Sokka didn’t like him. 

He plopped back down in his seat and gathered his things to go back to the dorm for the night, before realising he had left his key in the room. Zuko resisted the urge to hit his head against something or, Agni forbid, _cry_ , and made his way over to the table he had been avoiding the most. 

Everyone went silent as he approached. Zuko leaned on the table with his left hand and looked at Sokka, who was in between Suki and Katara, the latter already opening her mouth to say something, a scowl on her face. Zuko held up his other hand to cut her off. 

“Okay before you say anything, yes I know you all hate me and would probably throw me out a window if you could. I get it, I’d like to do the same to myself, but that’s not what I came over here for. Sokka, I left my key in the room, can I borrow yours?”

Sokka opened and closed his mouth a few times. “Uh, yeah, sure.” 

He rifled through his bag while everyone else at the table continued to stare at Zuko, with the exception of Toph, who punched him on the arm. 

“Sparky! I feel like I haven’t seen you in _years_.”

“It’s only been a few months Toph.”

“Yeah but still,” she grabbed onto his hand, frowning at the glove on it, “your hand feels weird.”

“Yeah that’s my glove on it,” Sokka responded, finally emerging with the key, and noticed everyone now staring at _him_. “What?” he asked innocently. 

“Why does Zuko have one of your gloves on?” asked a confused Suki. 

“Two people told me to cover my hand today and I’m fairly certain Zhao would get me expelled for not listening to him so I asked to borrow it.”

“What’s wrong with Zuko’s hand?” Katara asked Sokka, clearly unwilling to speak to him directly; Sokka only shrugged. 

“Dunno, he won’t _tell_ us.”

Zuko glared at him. “Yeah because it’s not important,” he pulled the glove off, “I just got a bit of a shock is all.”

There was a collective gasp around the table. Toph grabbed his hand again and started tracing the raised skin of his hand. 

“Damn,” she snorted, “Sparky really fits you, huh?”

And against all better judgment, Zuko laughed. “Yeah well, maybe you can predict the future,” he leaned over the table and grabbed the key that Sokka had placed down, and then quickly sobered. “One last time, I’m seriously sorry about how I acted towards everyone in the past few years. That wasn’t fair of me to direct my anger and insecurities at you guys, and I just want you to forgive me. We don’t have to be friends, I just don’t want more enemies.”

He gave Toph a pat on the head, causing her to swat at him, and began walking away. “Wait, Zuko,” called Katara. He stopped and turned to look at her. “It’s not because I like you, but just because it’s my healer’s instincts, but is your hand okay? What did you do to it?”

Zuko gave a small snort in response. “I’m fine. I just did something really, really stupid. ”

With that, he firmly walked away, the key tucked safely into his pocket. Zuko fished his earbuds out of his pocket and turned on some music on the walk back to the dorms. He was surely the only person who was going back this early, but it’s not like he had anything better to do. 

When he got back to his room, he changed his clothes and immediately fell on his face in bed. He pulled out his phone and opened twitter again, only to see more people worrying about him. Even though their concerns were completely vamid, he still wanted to put them at ease. Zuko took a picture of himself giving a thumbs up, and drafted a new tweet. 

  
  


**Zuko**

_@nakayama_zuko_

Guys seriously, I’m okay. I’m just a little tired and stressed because it’s my senior year, but you don’t need to worry about my wellbeing :’)

[image attached]

  
  


He tweeted it, hoping to hear the last of it once everyone saw that he was, in theory, fine. 

Zuko reluctantly got up and checked the door to make sure it was unlocked, before taking his aid out, plugging his phone in and putting in his earbuds. He liked to listen to music while he slept at school, and considering that Azula was in an entirely different building, he knew no one could sneak up on his deaf side. Zuko put on a Chopin’s Op. 28, No. 4 and fell asleep almost immediately. 


	2. sokka and zuko decidedly do not break into an old person's house

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Zuko reverse disowns someone, maybe kidnaps Sokka, and drinks coffee with one too many rocks to be healthy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi hello sorry for taking forever to update, my creative juices decided to leave, but i assure y'all the next update will be sooner lmao
> 
> i actually got a laptop so writing is easier now because yes i was writing everything on my phone before lol
> 
> and idk if i ever mentioned it before, but everyones a little older in this than canon, im actually not 110% sure how old everyone is, BUT zuko and sokka are both seniors; neither of them is 18 yet tho
> 
> um n e ways i hope y'all enjoy

Zuko arose early the next morning, as he always did, and sat up, stretching his muscles and putting in his hearing aid as he looked around the room. It was only their second day back on campus and the room was already…. well lived in. His own side of the room was the same amount of tidy as always; he was always on edge after being kicked out, so he would never fully unpack wherever he was staying. 

It seems Sokka obviously had no such qualms. 

He clearly had just dropped into his bed after he got back to their room last night, not even bothering to tidy up his half. Already there were books stacked in the corner, and it looked like Sokka had thrown one of his blankets off the bed at some point in the night. Zuko could only glare at the sleeping form of his roommate before getting up. 

Though Sokka’s half of the room was a disaster, Zuko noted that there seemed to be a clean line drawn through. The room was evenly divided into mess and no mess, and Zuko knew he should be questioning it but he just accepted it. At least it wasn’t his half that was dirty. 

Zuko grabbed his phone and checked the time.

6:18.

He frowned at the numbers; it was later than he usually woke up at, but it was probably just because he hadn’t slept well since… well, ever. But especially not since he had left school for the summer. Zuko was usually up at closer to 5:30, just to make sure he was fully prepared for the day. Plus it was nice to have a little extra time to himself in the mornings, since the only person who ever woke up that early was Uncle; even Azula slept in until 6:00.

The thought of Uncle made Zuko’s heart ache a little. He had been shown so much kindness since being thrown out six years ago, and he gave it all up just to  _ potentially _ be loved by his father, because that’s what it was. There was no given, no assurance of unconditional love; love was earned, and evidently Zuko hadn’t worked hard enough for his father to give him love.

Realistically, somewhere in the back of his mind, Zuko knew that love shouldn’t have to be earned, that it hadn’t been forced when with Uncle, but Zuko ignored that. What happened with Uncle was in the past, and as of walking out of his father’s home, Zuko had no family.

He sighed and unlocked his phone, attempting to ignore the hundreds of twitter notifications, before finally huffing and giving in. Unfortunately, they were not what Zuko was assuming they would be; which was just likes and maybe replies consisting of well-wishes. No, they were replies to the picture, because apparently nighttime Zuko was too much of a dumbass to realise what he had posted.

  
  


**Real Jeb Bush lmao**

_ @yesimjeb _

Replying to:  _ @nakayama_zuko _ hey noah fence but !! i dont think ur good pal

  
  


**Jan-orama**

_ @janthephotoman _

Replying to:  _ @nakayama_zuko _ uh bubs your hand rlly doesnt look too good :-(

  
  


**Beatles go brrr**

_ @moreliketweetles _

Replying to:  _ @nakayama_zuko _ Hey pal! Maybe check on that hand, looks like a nasty electrical burn-  [ here’s something to help? ](https://www.healthline.com/health/electric-shock)

  
  


**Aaron (he/they!)**

_ @hey_a_aron _

Replying to:  _ @nakayama_zuko _ ok dude now im more concerned :(

  
  


Zuko nearly threw his phone across the room. Of course,  _ of course _ he managed to fuck up assuring everyone that he was fine. He’s shocked that he hasn’t gotten a call, or text, or  _ anything _ from Ozai or Azula. Well, Azula would probably track him down at some point, but Zuko didn’t let himself believe that Ozai hadn’t seen it. If he was lucky, he wouldn’t hit the trending page, and everyone would just forget about it. If he was  _ unlucky _ … well Zuko would at least have symmetry on both sides of his face for the first time in years.

“Fucking  _ Aaron _ ,” he hissed.

“Who’sa?” came Sokka’s sleepy voice, emerging from deep within a pile of blankets as he sat up and blinked blearily. Zuko paid him no mind and only glared at his phone.

“No one, nothing, go back to sleep.”

“Mm, no,” said Sokka, who seemed perfectly awake the second Zuko asked him to do something. “Who’s Aaron, is he your secret lover?”

Zuko finally looked up and fixed his roommate with a scowl. “No. He’s someone on Twitter.”

The sly smirk slid off of Sokka’s face and was replaced with confusion. “What? Are you like, beefing with someone on Twitter? Is that what this is?”

“No,” Zuko growled, “I just know that fucking, at Ay-ay ron is going to get me in trouble.”

He looks down at his phone again, just as he saw Sokka mouthing  _ “at ay-ay ron” _ . He’s gripping the phone so tightly, that he distantly wonders if it’ll break; Zuko finds that in that moment he really doesn’t care.

By this point, Sokka has started to get ready, grumbling about being woken up so early, and the shrill ring of Zuko’s phone startles them both. Zuko freezes as soon as he reads the name lighting up his screen.

_ Incoming call from:  _ **_Ozai Nakayama_ **

Shit, he thinks.

“Shit,” he says as much.

Sokka’s looking at him amusedly. “Well? Aren’t you going to answer it?”

Zuko musters the energy to halfheartedly scowl again. “Oh looks like someone’s got a lot of fucking questions this morning, huh?”

The amusement shifts to annoyance, as Sokka straightens up and glares at him. “Hey, neutral territory, remember? You chill, and I chill.”

“Yes, yes I remember,” Zuko says, closing his eyes and rubbing across the bridge of his nose, trying to relieve himself of the headache the phone ringing is giving him. 

At least the sound putters out after a few more seconds.

Meaning… 

Zuko’s eyes fly open.

“Shit! Fuck, fuck. Fuck! I missed the call,” he mutters, frantically searching for the option to call his father. Sokka has his eyebrows raised, and seems amused again, but Zuko is anything but. 

The phone rings once before his father answers.

“Fa-”

“Save it Zuko,” Ozai snaps. “You didn’t answer the first time.”

Zuko closes his eyes- well,  _ eye _ \- and tries not to cry at the sound of his father’s voice. “I know, sir.” He’s learned the hard way that it’s easier to call him sir instead of Father.

“Be that as it may, that’s not why I called.”

If Zuko’s eye had been open, he would have winced. “I know, sir,” he says quietly.

“I’m not going to help you clean up your mess Zuko. And you  _ will _ clean this up. I cannot have you be a loose thread.”

“I know sir,” this time ever smaller than before. He thinks he hears Sokka snort in the background.

“Please,  _ what _ do you know?”

He tenses, praying to every spirit that there is, that Ozai didn’t hear Sokka.

Zuko was always unlucky.

“Who was that?” barks his father.

“No one,” he says too quickly, both eyes flying open and the scarred skin around his left eye even managing to stretch more than usual. Zuko locks his gaze onto Sokka’s, practically begging him to stay quiet. Luckily, Sokka seems to be able to read his pleading gaze; he frowns but thankfully says nothing more.

Zuko knows that Ozai doesn’t believe him, he knows that he’s about to get the biggest over-the-phone beating of his life, just for having someone else in the room with him. Zuko fucking  _ knows _ that he should shut up, if he knows what’s good for him.

Unfortunately, Zuko does  _ not _ know what’s good for him.

“But you know sir,” he rushes out, “if it  _ were _ someone- which it isn’t- it would happen to be my roommate. Who, as the word describes, lives in the same room as me. And is going to be here. The entire year, that is. Just in case you were wondering.”

Sokka’s looking at him like he’s gone insane, which is completely fine; Zuko can deal with Sokka assuming he’s crazy, so long as he doesn’t switch roommates. Zuko just needs to establish that his father won’t be able to send someone to quite possibly  _ murder _ him, without someone else being near.

Predictably, Ozai recognises the threat, but does not address it. “Fix this, Zuko. I will not ask again, understood?”

Moment of truth; Zuko sucks in a breath and signs his own death will.

“Remember when you said you should have killed me years ago? Your threats mean nothing to me at this point. I’ll be the one who decides what to do from here on out,” he tries to calm down, delivering his last line as steady as possible. “Hopefully the next time I see you is in hell,  _ sir _ .”

Zuko hangs up the phone and scrambles to block the number, his heart pounding into his ears. He’s probably just made the worst mistake of his life- that hopefully won’t end this young,

Sokka is still staring at him, and Zuko knows he should explain, but he just  _ can’t _ .

“Don’t,” he says weakly, looking down at his hands. “Just- just don’t. Please.”

He hates how his voice cracks, hates how tired- how  _ young _ he sounds. Zuko has always hated that effect his father had on him; the ability to back him up into a corner and make everyone know he’s afraid. Sokka’s eyes are on him, and he can only hope that they aren’t filled with pity. 

Zuko doesn’t want pity.

He knows he’ll have to explain eventually, but he can’t do that right now. The words won’t come out, and even if they would, he and Sokka aren’t there yet. If they ever even get there, that is.

Zuko checks the time again, seeing it’s now closer to 6:30. He throws together his uniform, leaving two buttons undone at the top of his shirt- he just had to reverse disown his father, let him be a douchebag for a day- and just forgoes the tie entirely, shoving it in his bag alongside the blazer he had stuffed in there. He turns to his roommate, who had been watching him incredulously the entire time. Zuko angles his head questioningly.

“Well? Do you want to go get breakfast?”

Sokka only gapes at him, at how casual Zuko is managing to be after such an obviously life altering phone call. In all reality, Zuko feels like he’s about to melt into a puddle of tears and sadness, but he’s a  _ hungry _ puddle of tears and sadness. 

“Wha- the dining hall? Isn’t open? It’s like 6:30 Zuko, classes don’t start until 8:30, and the dining hall doesn’t open ‘til 7:30.”

He only raises an eyebrow at that- well technically he only  _ has _ one eyebrow. “Okay and? We’ll find somewhere else.”

That earns him narrowed eyes, which is better than the sputtering that Sokka was doing before. Zuko goes so far as to extend a hand out. Sokka eyed it suspiciously, before grabbing it and giving it one shake.

“Fine. Lead the way then.”

Zuko grins and slings his bag over one shoulder, slipping his phone in a side pocket. He notes that Sokka also has his blazer stuffed into his own bag, having thrown on a different jacket instead.

“Is that… denim?”

“Yeah, it’s hot as shit out there dude. D’ya want me to wear my parka or something?”

Zuko shrugged. “Dunno, just wasn’t expecting denim. You seemed more like a flannel type of guy.”

It was Sokka’s turn to shrug. “Well who says I can’t like both?”

Was that a metaphor? That was definitely a metaphor. “Fair enough. Now come on, I thought you were supposed to be the hungry one.”

Sokka snorts and follows him out the door, turning around to lock it behind them. They’re predictably the only people awake at the hour, and technically students aren’t supposed to leave campus this early in the morning, but Zuko’s done this enough times that he couldn’t care less. 

“Lift or stairs?” he asks Sokka.

Sokka responds by opening the lift doors, and waving Zuko inside. 

“Are we even, like, allowed to be leaving right now? I’m pretty sure Zhao would be pissed if he saw this.”

That gets a small chuckle out of Zuko. “Technically we aren’t allowed off campus before 8, but fuck Zhao. Also, I do this like every day, and there’s only so many times they can punish you before they give up and let you go.” He gave a one armed shrug, “I mean there’s also limits of how you can punish the son of a dictator.”

“I- dictator?” Sokka asked as the lift doors pinged, and they exited.

“Well, close to it. How does the leadership work in the Water Tribe?”

Zuko began to lead their way down the street, honestly not entirely sure of where they were even going, but pretending to know for the other boy’s sake. He looked over to see Sokka with his hands stuffed in his pockets, bag strap crossing over from left to right, the bag itself bouncing each time Sokka stuck his foot out to kick at a rock as they passed. Sokka raised his eyes from the ground to slightly angle his head towards Zuko before speaking.

“Okay so for starters, the North and South are pretty different. I’m not too sure about what happens in the North to be honest; they don’t like us very much,” that made him pause and grimace for a second. “But I think they’ve got a constitutional monarchy. I dunno, it’s different from us, I know that.”

They slow down and Zuko looks around, unsure of any place open before 7:30 that  _ isn’t _ called something like, say, The Jasmine Dragon. He suddenly has a thought, cringing internally at the idea of going there, but beckons Sokka to walk with him anyways.

The White Lotus was the second easiest place to run into Uncle, but Zuko couldn’t think of anywhere else, and he was terrible with decisions. 

  
As soon as he had a direction to be walking in, Sokka started talking again. “The South has always had at least something similar to democracy? Like it’s not the exact system I guess, but we don’t have a system based on heritage or anything. If you think you could be a good chief, and everyone agrees, then you’re chief.” Sokka ends with a shrug. “Simple but effective I guess you could describe it. But what the fuck is up with the Fire Nation?”

“It’s shit is what it is.” Zuko pauses to check the street before walking across. “It’s not technically a dictatorship; we’re supposed to have elections. But what we have is a president, and that president has a top advisor, who’s supposed to take over if anything bad happens to the president. My great-grandfather Sozin implemented that, and of course he appointed his son as the first top advisor. Basically they worked together to make sure that pretty much all future elections would be rigged towards their family, which they have been so far.”

“Wow okay yeah, that’s really a dictatorship huh.”

Zuko shrugs, seeing the building coming up soon. “It sucks, but the only two people who’d be able to do something about Ozai are presumed dead and batshit insane, respectively. Also,” he swerves to the left and opens a door, “we’re here.”

Sokka looks surprised for a moment, but willingly goes where he’s pointing. Zuko follows a moment later, letting the door swing shut behind them. The White Lotus isn’t a very big building, and really its intended purpose is housing Uncle and his grandpa club whenever they want to meet, and don’t want to do it at The Jasmine Dragon. The fact that it’s a… restaurant? Café? Zuko’s not actually too sure, but whatever it is is just an added bonus. 

There’s a counter for ordering, and a menu hanging up on a chalkboard sign on the side of the wall. The handwriting is Uncle’s, which hurts his heart a little when he looks up at it. So, he instead turns to dump his bag at one of the tables near the front window, acutely aware that he and Sokka were the only people inside. Zuko notices Sokka come over and place his own bag across from Zuko’s.

“Okay so what is this place? There’s currently no one at the counter, did we just break in?”

Zuko looks over to the counter, seeing that there is in fact no one there, so he walks over to one of the doors behind it, leaving behind a bewildered Sokka. He knocked three times and waited impatiently for the door to open.

“Dude what are you-”

The door was yanked open to reveal an irate looking Jeong Jeong, who glared around the shop. “For the love of-” his eyes landed on Zuko and he sighed. “What do you want, Zuko- do you know what time it is?”

“Hey Sokka what time is it?” Zuko shouted over his shoulder.

“Uh, 7:06.”

“It’s 7:06,” he said, facing Jeong Jeong again. “Can I have a coffee?”

Jeong Jeong gave a long sigh. “Fine, but it’ll be Bumi making it.” 

He disappeared into the room again, shutting the door and leaving Zuko sputtering. Bumi was probably going to put  _ rocks _ in anything he was given. Zuko was pretty sure only two people on the planet could eat rocks, and he was sure as hell not one of them. 

He huffed and made his way back over to Sokka, who had been confusedly staring at him the entire interaction. “Okay so I’m still not reassured that we didn’t just break into some old person’s house.”

Zuko snorted. “Not this time we didn’t. They open at 7 am, making them basically the only place in the city that’s open right now, and I wanted a coffee; even if it’s going to be full of rocks.”

“I- am not going to ask, alright.” Sokka turned towards the menu. “So what do they have here? Um, preferably with no rocks.”

Just then, Bumi and Jeong Jeong emerged from the room that they were in. Jeong Jeong stepped behind the counter, already scowling at Zuko, while Bumi went back to a different room, one that Zuko knew held all of their equipment. He was still completely unsure of what The White Lotus actually should be classified as, but Zuko was pretty sure that they were prepared for literally anything.

“Care for some baozi?” Zuko asks Sokka.

“Y’know, sounds good to me.”

Which was how they found themselves eating lotus seed buns and drinking rock-filled coffee. At least,  _ Zuko’s _ had rocks in it; probably some form of punishment for coming so early. Agni forbid Zuko be a  _ paying customer _ at a  _ business _ and make Jeong Jeong and Bumi do their  _ job _ .

“Man I hope Katara doesn’t think you’ve murdered me or something,” Sokka says offhandedly as they finish. And well shit, if that isn’t something that hadn’t actually crossed his mind until Sokka mentioned it.

“Well maybe tell her?” He chokes out. “I’ve survived too much to let it all go to waste because your sister hates me. Not that she’s like, not scary or powerful or whatever. It’s just that- I mean I’d rather not be killed by a teenage girl. But not because she’s a girl! Just because I guess I’d rather be alive than dead right now? Y’know?”

Sokka watches him his entire ramble, amusement clear on his face, and his phone out in his left hand. “Well great to know, for both me and her.” He turns his phone screen around to show a voice message he had sent to a groupchat, which was blowing up because of it. Zuko weakly points to Sokka’s screen.

“You, um, have a lot of messages.”

The phone gets turned back towards Sokka as he reads a few out loud. “Suki says ‘I swear on the spirits I will beat his ass if he’s being sexist’, which good thing you’re not. Oh here’s one from Toph- ‘never thought I’d see the day Sparky sucked up to Sugar Queen but it is glorious’.”

“Okay first off, tell Toph she hasn’t ever seen  _ shit _ , and second ask her if she wants a rock coffee.”

“Wait did you  _ actually _ have rocks in your coffee?”

“ _ Yes _ ,” he hissed, much to Sokka’s amusement.

“That’s- spirits, that’s so good. Oh, and Toph says yes to the coffee.”

Zuko nods and walks over to the counter to talk to Jeong Jeong again. “Can I have another coffee, but with extra rocks on purpose this time.” At Jeong Jeong’s raised eyebrow he adds, “I’m getting it for Toph, the one that eats rocks.”

As soon as he finished his sentence, Bumi popped up from behind the counter with a full cup of coffee- making Zuko jump- setting it down with a grin. “Tell the little girl I’m waiting for our rematch.”

Jeong Jeong stared, unimpressed. “What are you re-challenging a little girl to?”

Bumi grins again. “She’ll know,” is all he says before scuttling off to the backroom. Zuko’s not entirely convinced that Bumi is a real human being. Jeong Jeong shakes his head; maybe it was fond exasperation, maybe genuine.

Zuko pulled out his wallet to pay, but Jeong Jeong put his hand out to stop him. “Instead of money, let me offer a different proposal.”   
  


“I mean it’s literally like 3 yuan for a coffee-”

Jeong Jeong shushed him. “Instead of money, overcome your cowardice and speak with Iroh.”

“I’d really rather pay the money, Jeong Jeong.” Just the thought of seeing Uncle made him cringe; he’d rather not have his failures thrown in his face, thanks.

“I won’t accept it.”

“You won’t- Jeong Jeong this is how a business works! How the fuck do you guys even pay the bills around here? I’ve never seen you make any money, like ever.” 

Jeong Jeong steadfastly held out, and refused to take the offered bills, causing Zuko to groan loudly. “Okay fine,  _ fine _ , I’ll talk to him. Happy?”

“Thrilled,” said Jeong Jeong, in the most monotonous tone he had ever heard. Zuko grumbled a thanks and grabbed Toph’s coffee, making his way back over to Sokka, who already had his bag slipped across his chest.

Sokka glanced up from his phone and offered Zuko a small smile, and  _ whoah _ if that didn’t do something to his stomach. Suddenly the loneliness in Zuko’s brain kicked into overdrive and he wanted nothing more than to cling to Sokka and never let go. Maybe date him, maybe get married, have kids, the works. 

_ Ah shit right _ , he had forgotten about the painfully large crush he had had on Sokka since before he got kicked out; the first time that is. Being roommates, and the fact that they had technically just hung out- and on only the second day too holy shit- had just arisen the feelings again. Zuko already felt himself desperately longing to at least be  _ friends _ with Sokka, and their little breakfast excursion had felt so domestic; Zuko didn’t want to let himself get too used to it, but it was hard when Sokka gave him that stupid little smile. It was private and felt so homely that it made Zuko want to finish his father’s job.

Zuko cleared his throat, shifting his bag onto his shoulder and holding his coffee, acutely aware of the fact that they were probably going to be late if they did not leave  _ right fucking now _ .

“Alright Finny, let’s go before we’re late.” Zuko once again pushed open and held the door for Sokka to go through, the other boy giving him a strange look as he did.

“Who’s Finny?” He asked as soon as they were on their way back to campus, causing Zuko to flush.

“Oh he’s um- he’s a character from a book; it’s called  _ A Separate Peace _ , dunno if you’ve heard of it.”

“Can’t say I have.”

Zuko awkwardly shifted as they waited for a crosswalk light to turn white. “I mean… I have a copy and I could lend it to you sometime, if you want.”

Sokka flashed him another smile, causing Zuko to once again melt a little inside. “I wouldn’t be opposed. I had no idea you were so into literature.”

“Oh yeah, uh, AP lang was probably… not a great showcase of it, but yeah I really do like literature a lot.” Zuko winced at the mention of AP lang, which had been an explosive disaster their junior year, and he could tell from Sokka’s slight grimace that the other boy was having flashbacks to the class as well. “But uh, do you have any books that you like?”

“Oh hm,” Sokka said, obviously grateful for the subject change, “I’m not sure. I guess I haven’t really branched out from what we read in class, y’know?”

No Zuko did not know, and Sokka cringed as he realised what he said. 

“Well, I- I could give you some recommendations?”

To Zuko’s surprise, Sokka nodded excitedly. “Actually, that sounds really good. I trust your taste.” That caused him to flush a little, because hearing “trust” come out of Sokka’s mouth and having it directed at him wasn’t something he ever imagined happening.

“Okay, well just overall, my favourite is probably  _ Love Amongst the Dragons _ , which is a play. But I also really like  _ Hamlet _ . For things that aren’t plays… I really like  _ Kokoro _ , it’s kinda relatable for me I guess.” Zuko saw the school coming up as he thought of more. “ _ Takekurabe _ might be a little dark, I don’t know if you’d like that one. Oh, but I think you’d like  _ Brave New World _ .”

Right before they reached the school courtyard, Sokka stopped him. “You should give me your phone number, and text a list to me.”

“Sokka we live in the same room,” he responded confusedly.

“Yeah that’s true, but that’s all the more reason that we should have contact or whatever, right?”

He squinted at Sokka. “Are we friends?”

“I… it was nice, hanging out with you today. Kinda makes me wish we could’ve done this earlier in life. I mean, you were a total dick last year, but I was also kinda a douche so I guess it evens out,” Sokka sheepishly looked at him, “but if you want to, I’d like to be friends.”

Zuko felt himself genuinely smile for what felt like the first time in his entire life. “I think I’d really like that, Sokka,” he said, and Sokka grinned in response.

“Great!” He held out his phone. “Number please.”

He awkwardly entered himself in as “Zuko Nakayama”, unsure of whether or not that was too formal. Sokka grabbed his phone and entered his number under “the best roomie in ba sing se”.

“No that’s too long, pick something else.”

Sokka pouted and reluctantly changed it to “my fav roomie”; Zuko sighed but let him have it. 

The two entered the courtyard, and Zuko was a little surprised to have Sokka’s hand shoot out for his arm and drag him over to his friends, who were already congregated in the shade. Zuko’s first instinct was to stay hidden behind Sokka, but he also had to deliver the coffee in his hand to Toph, so he just awkwardly froze in his spot. Everyone was eyeing him weirdly, and Zuko knew it must have been strange to see Sokka standing amicably with his weird enemy-rival-most-hated-person. Zuko cleared his throat and stepped closer to Toph.

“Um, here’s the coffee. Also Bumi said he’s waiting for a rematch on that rock eating contest from the spring.”

Toph cackled as she took the offered drink from Zuko’s hands. “He’s just pissed that Ir- someone stopped us last time.” Zuko winced a little after Toph very blatantly stumbled trying not to remind him of Uncle.

“Toph you ate  _ rocks _ ?” Katara exclaimed, looking as though she were in physical pain by the very idea, but Toph just nodded.

“Well duh, they’re nutritious.”

“They- they’re not,” was Katara’s only reply, before turning and scowling at Zuko. “And what were you doing with my brother? We usually all eat together, but he wasn’t here this morning.”

Zuko felt a little frozen under everyone’s gazes. “Oh well, um, we went somewhere else for food because we were both awake earlier than the dining hall opens.” He hoped Katara wasn’t planning on killing him before he even got to start his senior year.

To his surprise she only huffed and turned away, leaving Zuko to live another day. Instead, Suki and Aang turned to face him; Aang looked excited to see him, and Suki just looked suspicious.

“So are you two friends now?” Asked Aang excitedly. 

In response, Sokka slung an arm around Zuko’s shoulders. “Yup, we’re besties now.” Zuko ducked out from under his arm.

“Well bestie, I’m pretty sure we need to get to class.”

That startled everyone, and Zuko flashed his phone in front of Sokka to show the time, 8:23. “What’s your first class?” he asked Sokka.

“AP Comp Sci; you?” he responded, cringing; Zuko couldn’t but share the sentiment. That was probably the second worse way to start a day, the first being-

“AP Macroeconomics,” Zuko groaned. “I hate finances and I hate economics.”

Sokka sympathetically patted him on the back, and Zuko restrained himself from leaning into the touch. A pat on the back was the most heterosexual male thing ever, but Sokka might as well have just enveloped Zuko in his arms. Zuko wasn’t sure if he was touch starved, or just  _ really, really gay _ . Probably a combination of both, but no one needed to know that, especially not Sokka right now. 

“Alright well, see you on the other side of first period, soldier,” Sokka joked, giving a mock salute as he ran off towards the technology wing of the school.

“Yeah… see you,” Zuko whispers, trying not to let homoerotic longing seep into his voice. He turns to walk to his first period class, very unfortunately taught by Zhao. As he walks, Zuko wonders how the hell his crush doubled down on itself so much in just two days- not even. He hated to admit it, but he was just horrifically whipped for his new friend; someone he had been friends with for less than an hour, but had been pining over for close to seven years. He internally winced at the realisation; it had been  _ seven years _ , longer than he’d had the scar for. In fact, that was even partially the reason for the scar. Zuko’s gayness was not something that made his father too happy, so him finding out that Zuko actually had someone that he looked at in such a way was the final nail in the coffin for Zuko’s worth to Ozai. Now, he would literally never admit to Sokka about the crush- it had to be love by this point, but Zuko would repress  _ that _ until he died- let alone the fact that it directly-indirectly caused the most traumatic experience of his life; that’s definitely a one way ticket to ending a friendship.

Zuko sighed, and walked through the open door to first period, knowing that he was probably going to be one of less than ten students in the class. No one would take AP Macroeconomics even if it weren’t taught by Zhao, so the fact that it  _ was _ didn’t do the popularity any favours.

He looked up and internally groaned at the seating chart displayed on the board, placing his front and centre, no doubt the prime place for Zhao to ridicule him.

It was going to be a long senior year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops i hope that wasn't too bad
> 
> so its kinda just become canon that Zuko is a theatre kid, which is fucking based, but i was like hey what if we made him a classic lit kid too, which is really just me wanting to make references through Zuko, so every time i reference something ill just add it in the end notes
> 
> A Separate Peace: a novel by John knowles in which the main character- gene- deals with the emotions that come along with war, like morality and loss of innocence, all while being a big fat fucking homosexual for his weird best friend/rival/most hated person, finny
> 
> Hamlet: the play by Shakespeare that follows prince hamlet of Denmark as he struggles to prove that his uncle Claudius killed his father, and slowly goes batshit insane because he has literally one form of impulse control- Horatio- and when he isn't around hamlet just fucking murders people
> 
> Kokoro (meaning "heart", "the heart of things"): a Japanese novel from 1914 that shows the friendship between a young man and an older one that he refers to as "sensei", and deals with isolation as the country transitions from the Meiji period to a more modern Japan 
> 
> Takekurabe (translated as "child's play" or "growing up"): another Japanese work depicting the main characters growing up in Yoshiwara and how they have to fall into the roles created by their families for them
> 
> yeah so since the fire nation is kinda sorta based on Japan, i wanted to include the Japanese novels as well as the western ones; but the schooling is based on the American system, and the type of stuff that i know, so sorry if anyone international doesn't know how that works, but if y'all have any questions ill happily try to help with that
> 
> also since its a modern au with no war n stuff i just changed everyone's currency to yuans, its just easier; and also since Zuko is a senior, i made his scarring still happen when he was 13, so its been 6ish years as opposed to 3
> 
> okey that's all bye now

**Author's Note:**

> how was that lol
> 
> im not sure if ill have an update schedule or if ill just do it all willy nilly, but ill try to update this moderately frequently 
> 
> also do note that im actually poor and go to a public high school in Massachusetts so i don’t really know that much about boarding schools, so i kinda just based it off of my school and MMA (Massachusetts Maritime Academy) lmao 
> 
> also i gave Zuko a BTE hearing aid, which im not entirely sure would work, considering how shrivelled and deformed his ear is, but i didn’t want to give him like, a CIC because that would DEFINITELY get all funky when Zuko grabbed that taser, like there’s no way it wouldn’t short circuit 
> 
> tell me what you think if you’re inclined because it makes me so happy to see kudos and comments lol
> 
> but ily all and have a great day


End file.
